Say Yes, Autumn 2003: Education First

On a busy morning at the Ministry of National Education (MONE), Deputy Under-Secretary of Education, Salih Çelik, gave UNICEF a very warm and cheerful welcome when we visited him to talk about the campaign for girls’ education.

I believe that all children, whether they are girls or boys, need an education. The girls of today are the mothers of the future and the responsibility of raising children, of educating them within the family setting often lies with the mother. I see this in my own family -- my wife has more time to spend with our two children and as a consequence, she has more day to day input in their care and education than I do.

An educated woman who can keep abreast of developments in the world around her is better able to help and advise her children as they grow up -- she can provide them with a better perspective on life.

The primary reason for girls not attending school is economic -- many families cannot afford to send their girls to school and may even send them out to work for extra income. On a secondary level, there are the traditions and customs which lead families to keep their daughters at home to help with housework. Girls of that background are often married at an early age.

Such families need to be encouraged to send their girls to school to finish their education. They shouldn’t be forced to do so -- we need to persuade them that in the long run everyone will benefit if these girls know their rights and can assert themselves accordingly.

As a father, I was very excited when the campaign for girls’ education came on the agenda. I started work in this Office in April and we had just over one and a half months to prepare for the launch of the campaign. All the staff in the various departments of the MONE General Directorate of Primary Schools have sacrificed a great deal to put their time and energy into the project. Apart from MONE itself, many other government departments have been involved in the planning, preparation and execution of the campaign: we’ve been working closely with the Ministries of Health, of Labour, of Agriculture, the Interior and SHÇEK as well as the Chairman of Religious Affairs and UNICEF, of course.

When we began to plan the campaign, we needed to research the reasons why enrolment rates for girls were so low and we decided to set up Steering Committees at the local council level to assess the causes and make suggestions tailored to local needs so that we can see what’s needed and so facilitate the progress of the campaign’s objectives.

We’re also working on the schools themselves to make them more appealing places for families to send their children. To help those of low income, we’re looking at budgetary allocations for education as well as contributions from the private sector and the potential of fund-raising events at the local and national levels.

We’re delighted to be bringing the project to life at just the right time -- This has been the first project to completely unify such a range of Ministries with UNICEF’s global experience.

At the end of this school year we will be reviewing the results for the first ten provinces in the campaign and we’ll make whatever revisions and changes that are necessary to improve results and meet the project objectives.

Ultimately, the plan is to perfect the strategy of the project by 2005 and assimilate it into the educational system.

Visit the Ministry of National Education website for more about education in Turkey since 2002.

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